Super Bowl Memories: SB XXXVI

WWNO's Jacob Mayer takes a look back at Super Bowl XXXVI, the last Big Game to be played in New Orleans before this year.

The Louisiana Superdome’s most recent Super Bowl, on February 3, 2002 was perhaps its most exciting.

The heavily favored St. Louis Rams entered the game looking to win their second championship in three seasons, but it was the New England Patriots who would end up launching a dynasty that day at Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Patriots’ defense stifled the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” offense for most of the day, but quarterback Kurt Warner rallied late to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Game balls from Super Bowl XXXVI.

Credit Jacob Mayer / WWNO

St. Louis had its first lead of the day with just over one minute to play when New England’s second-year (and mid-season replacement) quarterback Tom Brady drove his team down to the Rams’ 30-yard line.

From there, Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired to clinch a 20-17 victory and one of the most improbable and thrilling finishes in Super Bowl history.

The win was the first championship in three tries for the Patriots, who had played both of their previous Super Bowls in the Superdome.

Notes:

Brady earned MVP honors for the first time in his career. He won the award again the following season.

Originally scheduled for January 27, 2002, the NFL moved the Super Bowl to February 3 due to the attacks on September 11.

After the attacks, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue postponed the league's Week 2 games (originally scheduled for the weekend of September 16) until the end of the regular season. The move effectively extended the 2001 regular season and postponed the postseason by one week. During the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show, rock band U2 performed a stirring 9/11 tribute that included a scrolling list of victims’ names.